What they said about...

It was, all agreed, the end of an era. Steve Waugh, arguably the most successful cricket captain ever, retired on Tuesday, after Australia ended their Test series against India in Sydney, Waugh's home city. The only disagreement was about whether his legacy was one to be celebrated or cursed.

"He wasn't intent just on achieving victory," said the Brisbane Courier-Mail, "he wanted his team to score runs quickly so they could win in the shortest possible time." In the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Roebuck agreed: "He has epitomised the relentless drive and ruthless spirit of a team that has been more executioner than murderer."

However, Waugh's singleminded pursuit of victory - which at times stretched to verbal intimidation - was, in the eyes of some, also his crucial flaw. "There were times when his desire to win overstepped the mark," said the former England bowler Angus Fraser, in the Independent. "There is no place in the game for premeditated sledging - or 'mental disintegration', as Australians call it."

In the Times, Matthew Syed recalled Waugh learning from his captain at the start of his Test career in 1986. "Allan Border ... is reported to have said ... he was sick of being seen as a good bloke and losing. 'I'd sooner be a prick and win,' he said. Waugh, with his unabashed championing of sledging, has taken Border's philosophy to its logical and highly regrettable conclusion."

Although the Indian press concentrated on their team's achievement in drawing the series, Rajesh Kumar offered a tribute to Waugh at the Indian news website Sify.com. "Like Ozymandias before him, Waugh's reign was normally spent on raising mighty monuments. Unlike Ozymandias, though, he never called upon those around him to look at his handiwork and despair ... Waugh was a plebeian, who by the force of his will and the strength of his sinews claimed his place at the high table reserved for the kings of the game."

"It is not in his nature to give ground," concluded the Australian. "After all, he is the man who insisted his Australian team visit Gallipoli." Waugh, added the Melbourne Age, "embodied the qualities Australians celebrate in themselves - tough, somewhat taciturn and devoid of pretension".